Compact



I y 1946- A; A. FLAS'TER- 2,399,997

COMPACT Filed 00L; 5, 1944 ALFRED A. rmsn-vz INVENTOR.

Arm 44 flvnuuq Patented May 7, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i'2,s99,99r;

common 7 Alfred A. Fla-ster, New York, .(Y. Application October 5, 1944,Serial 557,321

6Claims. (01. 132-583) This invention relates to compacts, i. e. casescontaining powder, a powder puff and a mirror.

Generally, compact cases are formed of a container and a cover therefor,the container accommodating powder and puff while the cover holds themirror. The container portion of'the compact is made in two differentstyles as follows.

The most widely used type has a cloth sifter or screen-like fabricsecured in the container tohold the powder, the powder puff lyingbetween the sifter and the mirror. This typeofcompact has the severedisadvantage that powder leaks through the sifter in excess of thedesired quantity so as to saturate the puff and on saturation thereof,as well as by working its way around the puff to the top thereof, tospread over the face of the mirror to cloud and obstruct the same.

The other, somewhat improved but also more expensive type of compact hasa container portion'including two sections, the lower containing loosepowder and in place of a sifter, a tightly fitted metal cover orpartition cooperating with a felt washerto prevent leakage. Thispartition is slightly depressed to serve as support for a powder pufflying between the partition'and the mirror.

This type is superior to the first-mentioned type in that leakage ofpowder from the lower section of the container is prevented; yet,whenever the pull is saturated with powder it will still cloud themirror. 7

Another disadvantage of this type of compact resides in that when thecompact is opened only for use of the mirror, e. g. during theapplication of lipstick or just to check the appearance of the face, thepull, due to the smoothness of the metal surface of the partition, isliable to slide off the partition and drop out of the case. Thesedisadvantages have tended to offset the improvement made in regard toprevention of powder leakage so that this second type of compact, beingmore expensive than the first without sufiicient advantages to justifythe added expense, has not found a universal market.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact whicheliminates the various disadvantages enumerated above, and which is freefrom powder leakage, clouding of the mirror, or the danger of the puffdropping out of the case.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compact which whileeliminatin the drawbacks of compacts as heretofore provided, and havingother advantages, can be made sufficiently simple and inexpensively asto be available for widespread use.

Other objects, and the manner in which the may have a circular orpolygonal contour.

the following compact with a marginal metal portion, approximately ofinverted L-section, with a groove in the top of the inverted L; arrangea felt-washer inside this marginal portion and a sifter covering powderheld "in place by saidfelt washer; place the puff so that itscircumferential portion rests on said felt-washer, the puff thus lyingabove but spaced from, said sitter; provide a hinged intermediate coveror partition having an outward bulge so as to accommodate the top of thepuff, this cover or partition having one projection fitting into thegroove arrangedin the toppart of the inverted L-section, and a secondprojection abutting against the inverted L-section and pressing down onthe circumferential edge of the puff, so as to serve as a double seal,the mirror being mounted in the case cover as usual but due to thearrangement of the partition or intermediate cover above the puff, beingshielded alforming partthereof an embodiment of my invention isillustrated diagrammatically in vertical section by way of example.

Referring to the drawing, l is the compact case which may consist ofmetal, plastic or the like and 2 is a cover which may be hinged to thecase and may be fitted inside with a mirror 3. 4 is a marginal insert,e. g. a ring of angular cross section, one flange of which 5 may extendsubstantially in parallel with the circumferential case wall 6, whilethe other flange 1 may fit in the case opening in contact with the wall6 and may be formed with an annular groove 8.

9 is the partition, which may be hinged to the case wall 6 and is'formednear its circumferential edge ID with two concentric, annularprojections I3 is a gasket of felt or similar material encircling thepowder compartment [4, and I5 is a puff formed and dimensioned so as tofit tightly in the powder compartment and its wall 5.

As shown in the drawing, the circumferential portion l6 of the pufi isforced down on the felt gasket 13 by the inner projection l2 of thepartition so as to establish, in conjunction with the projection H andthe groove 8, a tight doubleseal all around the powder compartment. Inthis manner the powder H which is contained in the compartment HSunderneath the sifter I 8 and which may pass through the sifter and intocon tact with the bottom of the puiT, is safely prevented from seepingthrough into the space Ma above the pufi. This has the two-foldadvantage that not only is the powder prevented from ever reaching andclouding the mirror, but, moreover, the powder is also prevented fromreaching and adhering to, the top part of the puff which thus remainsfree from any powder and when gripped during removal and use of thepuff, will not expose hand and clothing of the user to undesirablecontact with powder but will safeguard hand and clothing against anypowder stains.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to thedetails shown and described, for obvious modifications within the scopeof the appended claims will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Iclaim:

l. A compact comprising in combination, a cover portion and a containerportion, said container portion including a marginal insert, a gasketinside said insert adapted to support the circumferential edge of apuff, a groove in the top of said insert, and an intermediate coverhaving one projection fitting into said groove, and a sec- 0ndprojection overlying and abutting against the side of said insert andadapted to force the circumferential edge of the puff onto said gasket.

2. A compact comprising in combination, a cover portion holding amirror, and a container portion, said container portion including amarginal insert, a gasket inside said insert, a sifter held between thecontainer bottom and said gasket, a puff adapted to rest on said gasket,a groove in said insert, and an intermediate cover having one projectionfitting into said groove, and. another projection overlying and abuttingagainst the side of said insert and bearing on said puff, whereby adouble-seal seals the container from the cover portion so as to preventpowder from reaching the face of the mirror.

3. In a compact, a container portion, a cover portion, an inner Wall insaid container portion, a gasket adjoining said inner wall and adaptedto support the circumferential edge of a puff, an intermediate cover forsealing said container portion arranged intermediate said container andcover portions, a projection on said intermediate cover overlying andabutting against the top of said wall, and a second projection on saidintermediate cover overlying and abutting against the inner side of saidwall and adapted to force said edge on said gasket.

4. \A compact comprising in combination, a cover portion and a containerportion, a marginal insert in said container portion, a gasket insidesaid insert adapted to support the circumferential edge of a puiT, agroove in the top of said insert, and an intermediate cover arrangedintermediate said container and cover portions and having one projectionfitting into said groove, and a second projection overlying and abuttingagainst the side of said insert and adapted to force the circumferentialedge of the puff on said gasket, said groove and said gasket cooperatingwith said projections to form a double seal whereby to prevent powderfrom escapin to said cover portion and to the space between the pufi andsaid intermediate cover, respectively.

5. A compact comprising in combination, a container portion, a coverportion and an intermediate cover portion arranged intermediate saidcontainer and cover portions, said container portion including amarginal insert, a gasket inside said insert adapted to support thecircumferential edge of a puff, a marginal portion on said intermediatecover having a sealing face bearing on the top of said insert, and aprojection on said intermediate cover having a sealing face abuttingagainst the side of said insert, and an additional sealing face bearingon the circumferential edge of the puff to force the same onto saidgasket, whereby regardless of wear of the puff edge a multiple seal ismaintained so as to prevent powder from escaping from the containerportion.

6. A compact comprising in combination, a container portion, a coverportion having a mirror,

and an intermediate cover portion arranged intermediate said containerand cover portions, said container portion including a marginal insert,a gasket inside said insert adapted to support the circumferential edgeof a puff, a sifter held between the container bottom and said asket, amarginal. portion on said intermediate cover having a sealing facebearing on the top of said insert, and a projection on said intermediatecover having a sealing face abutting against the side of said insert,and an additional sealing face bearing on the circumferential edge ofthe putt to force the same onto said gasket, whereby the puff isprevented from coming in contact with loose powder, regardless of wearof the puff edge a multiple seal is maintained so as to prevent powderfrom the puff from escaping from the container portion, and consequentlyclouding of the mirror is eliminated.

ALFRED A. FLASTER.

